He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

4th Petal

          The room was silent. Tension was in the air or maybe it was just me making a big deal out of all of this like I always do. The guy who was taken aback stared back at me. Our eyes locked. He was exactly as I had remembered him.

          His face was soft yet masculine. His skin was fair and white while his hair was a warm and dark black shade. A silver pair of big round glasses hang on the bridge of his nose. It was cute. It made him look like a child.

          "Miss Kim?"

          I snapped out of my trance and looked away blushing, not realizing I had been staring.

          "Ah, s-sorry. Shall we get started?"

          "My name is Ben. Park Ye-jun Ben. I'll be your tutor from now on." He smiled softly as he extended his hand.

          Oh no. My hands are probably clammy and sweaty. He's probably gonna think I'm so gross. Ah but he's gonna think I'm rude if I don't shake his hand.

          I reached for his extended hands and calmly shook it as I introduced myself as well.

          "Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Soo-In Mia. You can just call me Mia."

          After our introductions, he began asking what I have been struggling with. The tutoring session actually wasn't that bad. His voice was very soothing and calming to listen which made everything easier for me to comprehend and pay attention to. I began to relax and opened up just a little.

          Ah, I want to ask him about the flowers, but we're talking chemistry right now. Yeah, let's not. That would make things more awkward. I nodded agreeing with myself.

          "May I have your number?"

          The sudden question caught me off guard. I sat there frozen in my seat. Did I hear right? I have a reputation for making people repeat themselves often. I'm sorry. Is it really my fault that I have bad hearing?

          "I'm sorry what?"

          "What." A word I use to respond to everyone because my hearing is so bad. I have perfect hearing but at the same time you just can't hear anything anyone is saying, you know? Lucas even made fun of me for it. On my birthday he gave me a card and the only thing he wrote was "what?". Funny, I know.

          "I asked if you would like me to send you some practice questions throughout the week and you nodded your head yes."

          A small chuckle escaped from his lips. Even his little chuckle was soothing to hear. As for me, nothing about me is soothing. All I do is eat everything like a goat, sleep like a bear, and I look like a hippo.

          "Ah, yes. Of course."

          I handed him my phone. He took out his as well. There, a cute cat and dog charm dangled from the corner of his phone. It swung side to side as he typed in my number. It was honestly so cute. He returned my phone with a smile and we began our tutoring session once again.

          Ben's voice may be soothing and everything but that doesn't mean I could study for a long period of time. He just simply made studying bearable.

          Before I knew it, an hour had already passed. Meaning our session was done. We slammed our textbooks shut. Ben stretched and leaned back in his chair as I put away all of my stationaries.

          Collecting everything, we both headed for the door. He opened the door and gestured for me to go first.

          I gave him a small thank you and we then headed out of the library together. There, Lucas was waiting outside. Backpack on the floor beside him as he sat on the stairs with his back towards us, too concentrated on his phone to notice.